Before

"It was a pleasure to work with the Tuscan Blue Design team to design an attractive space for teens at the Bethesda Library. The space is fun, imaginative and practical, and most popular with our teens. "
Kathie Weinberg
Librarian, Young Adult Service

Designing a Space for Teens

Carving out an appealing space for teens in the midst of a suburban library requires a unique design plan. This once dull corner of the Bethesda Library is now a comfortable, colorful, inviting, space for teens. This project was a collaborative effort between Tuscan Blue Design, the Bethesda Library, and The Washington Post. We began our design by interviewing members of the Library Teen Advisory Board to find out what they specifically wanted in their teen space. We volunteered our design hours and were given a modest budget for furnishings, rugs, etc. We worked with the library and the teens to develop a design, shop for items, and finally assist in installing the items.

Our design plan included the following: a new floor plan to re-organize the space with functions specifically for the teens; creating a light-filled, individual, reading area by the large windows; re-configuring computer tables and work tables for teen use; adding new shelving units for display, additional book storage, and to delineate the teen space from the rest of the library.

The teens specifically asked for fun colors... they wanted to steer away from the pastel colors of their youth and move towards a more mature style... but not traditional! We combined sophisticated colors such as white and black with vivid colors of orange, green, and turquoise blue.

We softened the feel of the space by adding colorful fabric panels to the concrete block walls. For pattern and softness, sheer fabric panels were added to the large windows... which still have a view and add much needed natural light to the space.

New chairs, rugs, bean bags, etc. were purchased for the space and existing furniture was re-configured/re-used to stay within the budget.